Torun Attractions : Nicolaus Copernicus Monument

NICOLAUS COPERNICUS MONUMENT

Address: Rynek Staromiejski, 87-100

When Napoleon visited Toruń in 1807, he remarked that he was surprised that there was no monument to Copernicus in his home city. Bertel Thorvaldsen was commissioned to design a suitable monument, but delays and conflicts meant that it wasn’t completed until 1830 and by that time it had been decided to place it in Warsaw. The local population still wanted to mark Copernicus’s life and in 1839 a committee of twelve was put together to work out how such a monument would be funded.

The committee was able to raise money not just from locals, but also from King Frederick William IV of Prussia. The monument was designed by Christian Friedrich Tieck and was designed to be twice life-size and it was finally completed in 1853. The monument was restored in 2003, to mark 150 years since work had started on it, with Copernicus continuing to stand in a prominent position in the market square. The monument has now become one of the best known landmarks in Toruń and this is one of the few depictions of Copernicus which shows him with a moustache.

The monument is always freely accessible.